Harry discreetly turned his head around, winking at Cedric. He heard a soft choking noise from Fleur, who seemed to have tried her hardest not to smile (and had unfortunately succeeded). Even Krum, who was almost always frowning, had cracked a smile at that.
Stop fooling around. This is more important.
" - Holly, eleven inches long, nice and supple, and containing the feather of a particular phoenix that resides within this castle."
"Fawkes?" asked Harry, bewildered. He suddenly realized that there were others in the room with him, causing him to blush slightly in embarrassment.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, it was Fawkes that provided the tail feather for your wand. He gave just one other feather . . . just one."
Harry nodded solemnly, not at all oblivious to the way Rita Skeeter had begun frantically writing upon her notepad, nor the way the other three champions, as well as the respective headmasters and headmistress, suddenly seemed incredibly attentive.
"However, I regret to inform you that the bond you share with this wand is slowly diminishing."
Harry paused.
"Could you repeat that, please?"
"Your bond with this wand is weakening. Given time, it will no longer remain the ideal wand for you. At this given rate, you may find it to be unsatisfactory in a few years, perhaps slightly more. It should not be a problem during the tournament, however."
Harry could almost feel Rita Skeeter's quill running against her parchment. Thankfully, Dumbledore intervened.
"As I believe Mr. Potter here is the only one whose wand needs to be looked over, you may all leave. Mr. Crouch, Mr. Bagman, I would request that you remain behind."
The others within the antechamber all nodded, although Rita Skeeter looked thoroughly put out with the arrangement. Once only the five of them remained within the room, Ollivander began to speak.
"A bond is typically weakened when a witch or wizard has changed a significant amount. A wand is made of several components which, to a certain extent, represent their owner. When this is no longer as true as it once was, the bond begins to weaken."
"So you're saying I'm no longer selfless, or something?" asked Harry.
"You study wand lore?" asked Ollivander, seemingly impressed.
"I thought I'd look through the basics." said Harry, "It might give me a slight edge over the competition."
Dumbledore seemed slightly disappointed with Harry's answer, though Harry didn't particularly care at the moment.
"I would suggest that you are changing in ideals and beliefs." said Ollivander, "Although there is something else occurring as well, something rather with how the wand seems to react to magic. It is almost as though you have two magical sources within you, and one is beginning to grow more and more aware of the other - that is the only way I can describe or explain the wand's reaction to magic. Perhaps your magical core is damaged, I do not know, but it will likely take care of itself."
Harry had absolutely no idea what Ollivander was talking about. He was not sure if the same could be said for Dumbledore. The eyes of the old man had become slightly curious and calculating, before acting as though nothing had happened.
I'll have to talk to Salazar later. It might just be my Mage core, Salazar said it was mutated.
"But I don't have to worry about it?" asked Harry curiously.
"It appears to be taking care of itself." answered Ollivander, "It is to be expected, of course. Most problems with such things tend to fix themselves - one of the many luxuries of magic."
Harry nodded, still somewhat intrigued.
"You should be more than capable of using it through the rest of the tournament." declared Ollivander, "Your wand will not get any harder to use for the next few years at least. However, I would like to request that you visit me during one of the coming summers, so as to create a new wand for yourself if it somehow gets worse."
"Is there anything else of importance, Garrick?" asked Dumbledore, turning to the wand maker. Ollivander shook his head in the negative, before handing Harry his wand back.
Harry bid the four men farewell, before departing from the antechamber. It was now lunch time, judging by the sudden plethora of students that crowded the halls. Harry set off towards the Owlery. Now was one of the few instances when Hedwig was not in the chamber with him, and he therefore wanted to check on her. Even if Salazar had told him that she would not yet undergo the stasis, he just wanted to be sure.
"Well, if it isn't the champion!" said a voice from just behind him. Harry turned around to find Ron and the other fourth year Gryffindors. They must have returned from a class they had been taking together.
Harry ignored Ron; he was not particularly in the mood for any of his dramatics at the moment.
"What, too afraid to talk about how you cheated to - " began Ron.
Harry pulled his wand out from beneath his robes, nonverbally performing the silencing spell. He left Ron and the others where they stood, ignoring the looks of shock on their faces. He was much more interested in finding Hedwig than dealing with them.